MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It took West Virginia more than 6 minutes into the first half of Monday’s season opener against Niagara to play the brand of basketball it hopes to consistently display this season.
Once the Mountaineers did, an early 10-point deficit turned into a runaway 91-46 victory.
WVU hopes to build on that effort come 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Stetson in a matchup that can be seen on ESPN+.
“We were able to increase our physicality as the game went on,” second-year Mountaineer head coach Ross Hodge said. “We were able to stay fresher. We turned them over [10 times], thank goodness, in the first half, because we weren’t making them miss. They shot 52 percent from two and 50 percent from three in the first half, which is atrocious. But we were able to balance that out, because we turned them over so much. The second half, we turned them over and were finally able to make them miss.”
WVU turned up its defensive pressure after falling behind early, and the Mountaineers entered halftime with a 43-30 lead en route to their comfortable victory, which saw six players score in double figures led by freshman point guard Miles Sadler’s 16 points and nine assists, both of which were game-high totals.
“I definitely feel like I can use my top speed a lot more not his team,” said Sadler. “There are a lot of options I have at my disposal at all times.”
It was a strong first impression for one of the more decorated recruits in program history.
“He played well in his first real college game, but he can play a lot better and he knows that,” Hodge said. “Some small little detail plays I’m sure he would want back. But his humility and willingness to open himself up to being coached and wanting that, that’s why his ceiling is what it is. The thing you really appreciate about him is his competitive spirit. He’s not afraid in those minutes and you saw it on full display.”
In a rare twist, the Mountaineers did not surrender an offensive rebound or a point at the free-throw line as the Purple Eagles missed all four of their foul shots.
Now Hodge hopes there’s no letup when WVU welcomes the Hatters of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Stetson is coached by West Virginia native Donnie Jones, a graduate of Point Pleasant High School who went on to enjoy a standout career at Pikeville, where he remains the school’s all-time assists leader.
Jones was an assistant coach at Marshall and Florida, before becoming the Thundering Herd head coach and holding that same title at UCF.
He’s overseen Stetson since 2019 and led the program to 22 victories as well as an improbable NCAA Tournament berth in the 2023-24 season. But since then, the Hatters (0-2) have lost 47 of 67 games, including contests at Clemson and South Carolina on Monday and Tuesday of this week to open this season.
Projected sixth among eight teams in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Poll, the Hatters trailed Clemson by 25 points at halftime before scoring 48 second-half points in an 85-72 loss.
The next night, Stetson trailed the Gamecocks by 17 points at halftime in an 81-55 setback.
Senior forward Collin Kuhl led Stetson in scoring in both games and arrives in Morgantown as the team’s top scorer at 18.5 points on nearly 61 percent field-goal shooting. Kuhl is also the Hatters’ leading rebounder with an average of 5.5
Both Clemson and USC shot 51 percent from the field.
Having shot better than 52 percent in its opener, WVU spread the wealth offensively. Brenen Lorient (13), Martin Somerville (12), Finley Bizjack (11), Javan Buchanan (11) and Mouhamed Sylla (10) joined Sadler in double figuress, and guard Joson Sanon scored nine points.
After shooting 4 for 16 on 3-pointers through the first 20 minutes, the Mountaineers made 9-of-14 attempts from long range in the second half to finish with 13 triples — a mark they reached only twice all of last season.
“They made the decision to not guard some guys, so you’re kind of half open,” Hodge said. “It disrupts your shot rhythm a little bit and that happened to start the game. Then we settled in, you start making them and they’re a little bit more in rhythm shots.”
WVU also recorded 13 steals while forcing 24 turnovers. The Mountaineers reached 13 steals twice all of last season, but disrupted passing lanes against the Purple Eagles to finish with a 24-3 edge in points off turnovers.
“I definitely think a strength of this team will be the speed and being able to convert,” Hodge said. “Defense to offense should be a strength with our forwards that can run and the shooting that’s on the perimeter.”
Lorient, West Virginia’s only available player with experience playing for Hodge, concurred.
“Our team is built around athleticism and speed,” he said, “so whenever we get the ball in the open floor, it gives us the best opportunity.”